Four-day week trial giving 'better value for money', vows council leader
A consultation on the move is under way
A council is asking people for its views on how week its four-day week trial is going.
The trial - led by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) - sees some staff complete all of their work in 80% of their hours for 100% of their pay.
It's a move that the authority wants to impose to help tackle staff recruitment and retention issues.
"Our evidence shows we've saved more than a third of a million pounds," Councillor Bridget Smith, leader at SCDC, said.
"We've demonstrated we've saved the taxpayer money and people are having to work at a much higher intensity than is sustainable over five days because they'd all burn out."
'Much improved services' from trial
The consultation will allow residents to share their views on how they've found council services since January 2023 when the trial began.
Since then, the move has attracted criticism over fairness and potential conflicts of interest.
But Cllr Smith said the council is improving its performance through the trial.
"We believe we are delivering much improved services to our residents in a far more cost-effective way, delivering better value for their money," she said.
"We've seen a massive increase in the number of people applying for our jobs and when we interview people who we've given jobs to, the majority of them say that the four-day week was a factor in them deciding to apply.
The previous Conservative Government had issued Best Value Notices to SCDC, citing concerns over its responsibilities to taxpayers.
SCDC said there was no evidence the trial had negatively impacted service delivery.
Council could be role model if trial is success
Cllr Smith believes if most people agree with how the trial is going, other governing bodies will follow suit.
"We know there's considerable interest from other councils and I think if we get it across the line and take the decision to become a four-day week employer, I'm expecting other councils to run their own trials," she added.
"There's hundreds of companies working a four-day week and it's very difficult to justify why something that works in the private sector wouldn't work in the public sector because at the end of the day, we're all providing services."
The consultation runs from today until the end of March.